Arkansas has seen a rise in sports betting and many industry officials believe the retail and mobile sportsbooks will combine to take in more than half a billion in wagers this year.
Let’s take a closer look at this year’s numbers and how the future looks for top-rated sportsbooks in the region.
Betting Business Booming
Sports betting is catching on like wildfire in Arkansas, and other states throughout the country for that matter, as evidenced by the handle growing more than 30% this March compared to March 2023. A whopping $50.3 million was wagered during that month with the annual March Madness college basketball tournament boosting those betting numbers.
Over the first three months of 2024, an average of $1.5 million per day was bet on sports according to according to Scott Hardin of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Assuming this average holds steady, it would mean that Arkansas bettors will wager over $500 million this year alone, up from $404 million in 2023.
As we have seen throughout the nation, the overwhelming majority of sports betting is facilitated through online sports betting apps. In March, $46.4 million of the $50.3 million in sports bets was generated digitally, which equates to over 92% versus less than 8% of the sports bets being placed at retail sportsbooks found in one of the state’s three casinos.
Last year, Arkansas collected approximately $5 million in taxes, which means this year should yield an even bigger bounty for the state’s tax coffers.
Scott Hardin, the state’s Racing Commission spokesperson, said, “The state gets a healthy portion of it. The city and county that are home to these casinos get a significant portion of that. And then lastly, there’s a horse racing fund on the live purse. So, the purses at Oaklawn actually increased as a result of the state revenue.”
“We want to be sure Arkansans understand the only way to place a legal sports wager in Arkansas, is at one of the state’s casinos or through their apps. Any other option is not legal,” Hardin added.
Could iGaming Be Coming?
Lawmakers and the gaming commission are grappling with the addition of a fourth casino in the state but the location of that property and which entity gets the license has been fraught with legal objections and public squabble. Getting that situation adjudicated will be the first order of business for the state’s gaming regulators but there is another question being gently asked by the one member of the state’s casino industry – iGaming.
The term iGaming is merely the proper name for online casino gambling. Open an app and within seconds customers can play a virtual slot machine or a table game on their portable devices. It’s as simple as that but many lawmakers believe that instant access to casino gambling might be too accessible and lead to an explosion of problem gambling.
As of this writing, only seven states have adopted iGaming including Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia. However, Carlton Saffa, Chief Marketing Officer of the state’s only tribal gambling resort, Saracen Casino, is asking the Arkansas Racing Commission to consider bringing iGaming to the masses.
“[Unregulated operators] are a serious issue, and we want to address it,” Saffa said. “We look forward to visiting the commission about a problem, which is unlicensed, unregulated, and untaxed real-money gaming occurring in Arkansas today. You need a legitimate alternative because there is consumer demand for this.”
The gaming industry as a whole has been expanding in terms of scope and range as 38 states, plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico, now have some form of sports betting with the most popular being of the mobile variety. Last year, the total handle was $119.8 billion, which increased 27.8% from 2022 while revenue climbed 44.5% to $10.9 billion.
